we could learn about these people going forward, breaking news on "america's newsroom". martha: thank you, bill. "hagging now" starts now. jon: we continue with this fox news alert, john paul stevens announcing he'll retire when the court finishes its work this summer. i'm jon scott, along with jane skinner, the announcement of the leader giving president obama's his second high court opening to fill, the plan to step down has been pipt \dollars/{^ed} -- hinted at for months, it comes 11 days before stevens' 90th birthday. james rosen is live the a the white house, bring us town date. >> reporter: president obama has been practice prague, signing the nuclear treaty with the russianings and is enroute back to the white house. we expect to see him arrive here about two hours from now. we were originally told before this news broke that

the president planned to be speaking to the american people on the subject of the mining tragedy in west virginia, but now we expect of course we will hear from him in some form or fashion, or perhaps a favor statement, or what have you, on this subject as well. we do have the regs nation -- resignation letter that just stevens submitted to the president, it begins my dear mr. president, having concluded it would be in the best interest of the court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the court's next term, i shall retire from active service as an associate justice, effective the next day after the court rises for the summer recess this year, most respectfully yours, john paul stevens. of course this is not a tremendous surprise, jon. justice stevens had been hinting he was considering retirement, he had hired one law clerk where traditionally a justice who plans to stay on for the next term would hire four, former justices are entitled to one law clerk, so it all seems to -- seemed to come together. of course, justice was

appointed in 1975, nominate i by president gerald ford, a republican, yet justice stevens went on to become identify with the liberal block of the court, and that often happens. we often see presidents appoint justices who turn out to be very different than the justice that the president thought he was going to get. that happened in the case of president eisenhower with earlaway, with nixon, with harry blackman who went on to author the roe v wade opinion. we don't know who president obama plans to nominate but his aides say we can expect to hear the short list of names bandied about as we did when president obama nominated the his has panic to the court, justice sonya sotomayor. jon: interesting timing of this, in the administration, he assures another liberal will take his place, but it's been pointed out with the congressional elections coming up this fall and the public already pretty

steamed by much of what's gone on in the first year of the obama administration, the president may have to moderate the choice that he might otherwise make. >> reporter: that's true, and of course, that has to do with the realities of the balance of power in the senate which, of course, was altered by the election of scott brown in massachusetts in january. if the president knows he has limited capital to spend on this nomination, the senators know, too, they have limited capital to spend on these things and presented with the right choice, they can recognize they have limited capital indeed. that was certainly the case with judge sotomayor when she was nominated and the republicans put up symbolic resistance against her because there was a widespread consensus she was going to be confirmed and the senators were reluctant to spend too much capital at that time. of course nominations and senate confirmation -- confirmations are unpredictable things. in 1975 when justice steve eps was nominated he was confirmed nine #-nothing in

an era that had far less polarization in senate and of course the word abortion was not mention mentioned at appears. but it's not just the recognize -- the president who recognizes he has limited capital to spend here. martha: on the foam is tim o'brien, han attorney who has covered the supreme court for two decades, he knows as well as anybody does. tim, good to hear from you today. let's look forward and touch on what james and john were talking about there. if you're advising president obama at this point, where do you go fill coughcle as a nominee, is there any appetite in congress for a fight? >> i think the president is going to going to try to appoint somebody who shares his philosophy about the law, which is parallel to the philosophy of john paul stevens and if there's going to be a fight over that, i think the administration is prepared for that. we talked about stevens as the liberal anchor on the

core. we should keep in mind, however, when he did join the court in 1975, he moved it sharply to the center. replacing what the old-time great liberals on the court's history, william o. douglas. the fact is it's not so much john paul stevens who's changed but the court has changed, becoming much more conservative. from 1967 to 1992, there were no democratic appointments to the supreme court. you had about # or ten republican appointments to the court. so it's the court that has really changed. i think that president obama will be looking for somebody who shares many of justice stevens' views, and i don't think it's going to be hard to find that person. the real challenge will be to find somebody who has justice stevens' political skills, his negotiating scilts, his consensus building skills. those are the skills that i think justice stevens will be moss remembered for. >> tim, hang with us if you will. jon has jut guest. jon: joining us on the phone, former supreme court nominee, robert bjork, whose

nomination during the reagan administration became such a controversial one, eventually that nomination voted down by the senate. judge bjo -- judge work -- judge bjork, your reaction. >> in the first place, i disagree with tim, that the court has changed. the court hasn't become more conservative. there have been nominations by conservative presidents but the men nominated don't behave conservatively and that's certainly true of stevens who took a sharp break to the left when he got on the court. jon: he changed his stripes, do you think? >> yeah. as a court of appeals judge, he was quite moderate. as soon as he got on that the supreme court, he began to behave differently, very definitely. now, i should say that i like the man, he's a very

likable fellow, i consider him a friend, nonetheless, he's not a model for a judge that i would choose. jon: let's talk about the possible nominees. your book, "slouching towards gommorah, liberalism and america's decline cloo cline" says it all about your position towards the supreme court. what would you expect from president obama? is he going to going to nominate a more liberal member or will he with congressional elections coming up be forced to moderate the kind of person he might nominate? >> i don't think he's shown any sign of compromise on issues so far, and i don't expect he will this time. he has the votes, and i think he'll have them, he'll exercise him them and he'll get the nominee through and the republicans will feel kind of helpless and won't

put up too much of a fight because they know it's a loser to begin with. jon: chris wallace said a moment ago the republican senate tends to go along with democratic presidents, or republicans in the senate, more so than democrats in the senate tend to go along with nominees put forward by republican presidents. do you agree? >> yes i do. jon: and in terms of the names that are out there now, for instance, elena kagan, are you making any bets as to who this president might nominate? >> no, i'm not. there with a wide variety of people. it depends on what he's looking for. he may want to be the first president to have three women on the supreme court. or he may have some other agenda. every time one of these comes up, the president seems to me to strain to

have a first. jon: she was a solicitor general as were you. is that an important qualification, do you think? >> yeah, it's -- it should disclose something about your legal ability because you argue all kinds of cases, pont cases, and from a variety of fields. jon: judge robert bork from the u.s. circuit of appeals, george bork, thank you. jane: chris wallace of fox news sunday has been listening listening with us. your reaction to what judge bork said. >> it's interesting hearing him talk, of course he is and everyone agreed that he was an absolutely brilliant jurist. there was never any question about his qualifications to serve on the court, it was obviously a lot of question about his ideology, and he's the poster child for the

appointment of nominees, it really had been much more of a -- as i say, there was a general feeling in this town , the president had certain prerogatives, one was to name his supreme court nominees, and they were confirmed generally, but that sure didn't go for him in 1986 when ronald reagan named him and teddy kennedy went -- teddy kennedy went to the senate and excore indicated -- excoriated him and many think in a bad way in the very hours of his election and that started a whole different process now in terms of these nominees because once a president nominate someone, there's a huge effort made to -- by the president, obviously they have a head start, and they know who it's going to be, by the president and his party to defend that nominee and to define that nominee for the public before the opposition can rise against the nominee and make the contrary case. you know, we talk about sonya sotomayor and one of

the things that was so -- whether that was the reason or not, the president clearly wanted to make -- to appoint the first hispanic to the court but it made it a much tougherrer -- tougher political matter for republicans to oppose her because she was hispanic, that's an important voting block and a lot of republicans didn't want to be seen as antihispanic by voting against sonya sotomayor, so you can appoint somebody who is pretty liberal. you don want much a paper trail and you want to have someone on the other side to vote against. sonya sotomayor is an example of a skillful choice as the president's nominee and be sure they'll look for somebody who represents the his idea yolg -- ideology but won't kick all storm in the senate. jane: we got a letter from the senator, patrick leahy, he said i expect the

president to continue consulting both sides of the aisle as he considers this important nomination, he goes on tocy the decisions of the supreme court are often made by only five individuals but they impact the daily lives of each and ef one of us. -- every one of us, all senators should advise and scoant and give fair and thorough consideration to justice stevens' successor. when we look forward to a potential pick here, what is the importance do you think of going for yet another woman, potentially another minority or has the president gotten that off the table with justice sotomayor? >> i don't think it's as pressing as it was. with the history of two women on the court, sandra day o'connor and rawt baider ginsburg, to take a step backward, to eight men and one woman, that was something that clearly -- i'm sure there were a number of people in the president's group, in his liberal base, who wanted to see another

woman on the report, ruth baider ginsburg made it clear she wanted another woman on court and also, and i must say president bush also talked about this a lot, the idea of the first hispanic, that was an important barrier, perhaps the latest barrier that needed -- in the minds of both conservatives and liberals, to be broken. i'm not sure that there is as obvious a breaking of a barrier this time, either, in items of a third woman on the court. this would be the first time there had been three. but i'm not sure that it's nearly as pressing. i'm not sure the president will feel the need to do something. i got to tell you something about patrick leahy, the senate judiciary chairman. to give you a sense of just how political this has become, back in 2005, he was complaining when he was in the minority and republicans ran the judiciary committee about them ram rodding choices through. there's now a circuit appeals court nominee for the democrats, goodwin liu, and the republicans are

complaining that there's more information that's come out, that he didn't disclose all of his writings, and this they should slow it down, and now that leahy is chairman, he said absolutely not, we're going ahead with this hearing, so who wheels the gavel determines a great deal of what happens on capitol hill. jane: chris wallace, fox news sunday, we'll get back to you as details break on this. jon: justice john paul stevens telegraphed his retirement in part through the appointment of his clerks. coming up, we'll be talking with a former clerk for the now retiring supreme court justice. also, bombshell news out of washington. bart stupak, a man who became both hero and goat to both sides in the health care debate makes a big announcement. we'll have it coming up. ñwpú@

jon: a fox news alert, justice john paul stevens, who has served more than a third of a century on the

u.s. preem court appointed -- nominated i should say in 1975, by former president gerald ford, justice stevens announced he is retiring after the court completes its work this summer. let's talk about his legacy with diane marie amon, former clerk to justice stevens from 1998-1989. it's my understanding diane that it was telegraphed that he might be retiring when he only put forward the name of one clerk to nominate this time around as opposed to the usual four. that had everybody in washington saying he intends to step down. >> well, it did send washington aflutter, and his response was rather humorous, i think he said i'm surprised everyone is surprised, i'm no spring chicken, after all. >> no one in america really gets to know these supreme court justice, they are generally very private people. tell us about the man. >> well, i think the best way to describe the justice

is a gentle person's gentle person. he is incredibly civil, almost courtly in the way that he treats everyone from his clerk to the lawyers before him. he has an indisputeably brilliant mind of great recalls for cases, and a very unique and important way of thinking through some of the most important legal issues of our day. jon: your phrase is echoed precisely by someone you might not expect who would be praise ago man who's considered one of the most liberal justices on the supreme court right now, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell says in his release about the retirement, i respect his devotion to the institution and the gentlemenly manner in which he carried out his work. is he from another era we might not see again on the supreme court when it comes to political division? >> i hope not.

you'll recall that justice stevens was the justice appointed right after watergate by the post watergate president ford, and in some ways he was put on the cord to -- court that could bring us together after another period of partisan division, and i hope that his replacement is able to fill that role as well as the other important roles that justice stevens has held on the court. jon: diane marie ammond who served an important role for one of the clerks for justice stevens, thank you. jane: another big story breaking in washington this hour. we're waiting to see congressman bart stupak, he's a michigan democrat what's come under intense fire for ultimately voting in favor of the president's health care reform plan, and he brought a whole block of votes with him. we're told he will announce he will not be running for reelection.

jon: a fox news alert and just about exactly two hours from now president obama will step out into the rose garden and address the nation. we are told the topic is to be the west virginia mining tragedy, however, with the somewhat sudden announcement this morning that long serving justice john paul stevens will retire from the u.s. supreme court at the end of its current term, we expect the president will have something to say about that. you'll certainly want to stay glued to fox news channel for that announcement again from the rose guarden -- garden two hours from now. jane: "happening now", preparation for a news conference from bart stupak of michigan, he has been under such heat for his vote in favor of health care reform, he's the one who ended up switching his position after getting a side agreement on abortion language from the president. we expect that congressman

stupak will say he will not be running for reelection. we're told that the president called the congressman on wednesday, asking him to reconsider. the tea party has been holding rallies opposing the vote. they launched this ad. >> congressman bart stupak, you've betrayed our constitution, you sold us out on the health care vote and now it's time for you to pay the political price. jane: chad pigrim is our senior producer on capitol hill. explain how this went down. >> reporter: besides the election of massachusetts senator scott brown there was no name more closely associated with the health care reform debate than bart stupak and that's because of the stupak amendment which was designed to build a fire wall between abortions and the use of taxpayer money to pay for them. they were hearing some rattling starting at the end of the debate that stupak might not stand for reelection, there were calls as you said from the president, the speaker of the house to stupak, also john dingell, who is the

most senior member of the house and the dean of michigan's congressional delegation, asking him to stand for election here. he really incurred the wrath of prolife and prochoice voters, also, as you said, the tea party folks were rallying all over michigan, promising to defeat them, and then this was the most interesting lements, the debt threats, the phone calls and hate mail, some of the most profeign, foul language you can imagine and bart stupak is a guy here who he might have had a tougher race this time around, president obama got about 15 percent of the vote in that district, he won reelection overwhelmingly last time around, even in a republican year, in 2002, he still got 67 percent of the vote, but this might have been too much for bart stupak to stand this time around. jane: what are the consequences for democrats? >> it immediately throws this seat into a tossup category, probably at the very least. it's not somebody strong on the other side sort of waiting in the bullpen to

succeed him. there is a senior democrat respect source telling me this is a disappointment but it's not insurmountable by any stretch and republicans are raring to go here. ken splain, a spokesman for the republican national committee who is in charge of getting republicans in the house, said after selling his soul to pelosi, stupak said no and her hold on the speaker's gavel is loosening by the day. jane jeanne chad pergram is our cap it will hill senior producer. thank you, we should be seeing congressman stupak in his home state of michigan to make this announcement and explain what went into this thinking just about within hour from now, and we'll take you there live. jon: also "happening now" an end of an air why the u.s. supreme court, one of the -- one of the longest serving judges ever, john paul stevens announces he will retire, that allows president obama to make his second appointment to the nation's highest court. who will he pick? that's the guessing name in

washington right now. also former speaker of the house, newt gingrich is not pulling any punches, the former history professor says this president is the most radical in history. that word came at a republican conference that some say is basically a tryout for gop presidential hopefuls. sarah palin will speak today. our own carl cameron is there to cover it in new orleans. we'll have more.

jon: a fox news alert and one of the longest serving justices in u.s. history is retiring. john paul stevens, sending president obama a letter this morning, saying that he will call it quits at the end of this supreme court term. let's talk about it with fox news contributor bob beckel. he is a long time democrat. also with us, mark peason, former speech writer for former president bush. the first president bush,

mark, appointed justice david souter, a guy that surprised him with some of the rulings he made, tended to be way more toward the liberal side. is it possible as president obama gets ready to make his second supreme court appointment, is it possible that he could wind up with a surprise? >> we could only hope, but it's unlikely. it seems to be president ford nominated john paul stevens, president reagan nominated sandra day o'connor, president reagan nominated judge souter. it's only when bush nominated alito and roberts that we have conservative votes. the democrats never seem to -- i guess they do better ideological vetting of candidates. the democrats never seem to nominate independent thinkers who surprise us with their decision. jon i'm sure you agree with that, right, bob beckel? >> of course. but you know, suter -- souter was the one who was really a big surprise for everybody, and i think that

souter put a marker down for everybody else, including my party, to do the kind of vetting you need to do. look, it's rare now to get people on the court who have not had judicial experience and therefore they've had a lot of rulings and writings and there's a long track record, so i think you'll probably find that with obama and he's pretty cautious and the kind of thing he did with sotomayor is what you're going to see here. jon: everybody talks about the fact that washington is so much more polarized these days than it used to be and you see that reflected as chris wallace was saying on the vote with justice stevens, 98-nothing. are we ever going to see votes like that again mark? >> not at all. the democrats have so politicized the supreme court justice. just a few years ago you had samuel alito undergoing scurrilous attacks to the point his wife was brought to tears in the hearing room. the democrats have turned this process into a political game, and republicans have always been veryo ruth gader gins --

baider ginsburg had republican votes, they have always voted based on quall fiekses and democrats have attacked perfectly qualified republicans out of ideology. they've pub li -- politicized this terribly. jon: the late senator ted kennedy roasted justice robert bork on the senate floor and a lot of people felt that was very untear. >> -- unfair. >> mark, with all due respect, to be around this year and to suggest that the democrats have politicized anything in the face of the polarization by the republicans is beyond comprehension. but look, two -- >> you're kidding. >> no, not kidding. there are two things that that are coming up and are very dangerous, the mid-term election, one is the starr agreement, the treaty signed yesterday which will limit nucleolar weapons, my guess is it will get caught up in the politics of the mid-term election, that's dangerous, particularly when you're trying to get other

countries around the world to back off of nucleolar weapons and secondly the supreme court nomination. if obama wants to make this in the summer, it will be right before the elections and my guess is it's going to be politicized by the republicans, and so we're going to have two very important things coming up at exactly the wrong time. >> but it should be, shouldn't it? shouldn't the mood of the country, bob, the political mood of the country, shouldn't that be considered when we're making a lifetime appointment to the highest court in the land? >> oh sure it should be considered, but the question is, is it considered on its merits or is it considered on the basis of an election in the first tuesday of november? and that's really the difference here. and my guess is that if the starr treaty, for example, were by itself in an off year, nonelection year, it would probably be fine. my guess is the supreme court will be the same thing. it is a question of whether it stands the test of merit, substance, and direction. not whether it impacts the first tuesday in november. jon: mark, the mood of the country, when it comes to

this president's supreme court pick, i mean, is it going to mirror the mood of the country about some of the things that have happened in the obama administration thus far? >> well, i think first of all, for anyone to suggest the republicans have politicized the supreme court justice process, people who gave us the robert bork and the the alito hearings, to suggest we're somehow going to politicize this, the democrats changed the rules. you know, barack obama opposed bush's supreme court justice, even though they were absolutely qualified, you know, so the democrats have changed the rules, because all of the saiden -- sudden they're going to start crying foul if republicans raise objection to the nominee. let's find out whether the nominee is, let's find out whether it's a centrist or someone with a radical record and we'll deal with it. as far as the starr treaty, treaties don't get passed in a few minutes -- months, they take time. i doubt it's going to be ratified this year, it's going to take a long time to examine it and i doubt the republicans are going to politicize it if they have

objections. >> well, that is something that i'll be happy to see if it's true, but you know, the polarization of the -- politization of the supreme court began when richard nixon nominated two extremely uncapable people in carville and hainesworth as a payoff to strom thurmond and that goes back longer than the bork thing. what ted kennedy about to -- did to bork was wrong, but alito deserved it because he's a reeaksary judge. jon: bock beckel and mark peasra. mark, you haven't been contacted by the president for the supreme court position? >> i haven't. i don't know why. jon: we promise not to make your wife cry. jane: we want to take you to

new orleans where the talk is which republicans will run for president in 2012 at the southern republican leadership congress. former house leader newt gingrich took a shot at the president. >> if you have spending without any representative of what it is, you don't have representative government, you have a machine, and that was the first signal that this is very different. this is the most radical administration in american history. engine jane -- jane: the 2012 buzz is swirling around sarah palin, she's be speaking at the conference. chief correspondent carl cameron is in the big easy. what do we expect? >> there will be a whole host of candidates speaking not just today but tomorrow in advance of a straw poll, this southern conference happens annually and in the midterm there's focus on republicans trying to take back the house and senate majorities. last night newt gingrich spoke and he answered a question from the audience, somebody wanted to know what

hi personal plans were for 201 and he said he and his wife would make up their mind about a presidential run next year, so it i was good you the impression that many speakers are eyeing it. gingrich last night absolutely pulled no punches, very aggressive, urging republicans to take it to president obama and dps, essentially resentlessly, arguing the only way to block this is to put forth positive ones and to point out what they think is objectionable. here's more of newt gingrich last night. >> the president. united states, the most radical president in american history, has now thrown down the gauntlet to the american people. he has said i run a machine, i own washington, and there's nothing you can do about it. >> reporter: gingrich says there's a 3-step process, first, win the house majority in the coming elections of 2010, second, fund no obama spending programs in 2011 and 2012 if

republicans with the new found majority find them objectionable and third, take back the white house in 2012 and to that end today, jane, the big speaker will be former alaska governor sarah palin, we'll also be hearing from bobby jindal of louisiana and texas governor rick perry. perry has been dodging questions about his own white house aspirations for months now,ie currently running for an unprecedented third, four-year term as texas governor. bobby jindal has been denying any white house aspirations, although nobody in louisiana believes that, they all think adlove to be vice president, if not run for himself, but of course the questions about sarah palin are seemingly endless. if she's running for president, that completely scrambles the political thinking for her potential rivals, and if she's not, that means the scramble among them is going to be all the more intense because they see if she's out of the race, their own chances are substantially increased, jane. jane: sounds like heavy meat last night, heavy red meat, i should say. >> absolutely. listen, these republicans

are down here, with a tremendous amount of energy and vigor. across the country, the tea party movement has been sort of inspiring republicans and conservatives to return to a level of activism. the tea party movement itself was inspired by the democratic congress and the democratic president's agenda in the last year and a half. health care reform was central to it, but they also argue that it's about stimulus, the stimulus plans that didn't stimulate in the republican view, it's about the troubled asset relief program, the bank bailouts, the government bailouts, the expansion of government, and all of that lends itself to conservative and right leaning candidates, including libertarians and independents, campaigning against the incumbents. it's an antiwashington, antiestablishment mood, and since republicans are in the minority they think that that's wind in their sails. jane: carl i want to ask you about congressman bart stupak, we expect to see him about 50 minutes from now announcing he will not be running for reelection. you know, the headline in some places says that he was really chased out by the tea

party. how do you see it? >> reporter: well, the tea party movement is going to take a lot of credit for it. look, they targeted him, they were running radio ads, running direct mail, canvassing the congressional district, threatening to run town halls and rallies, wherever he might go. mr. stupak was heavily criticized for the way in which he brokered an agreement with the white house and some democrats over the abortion language in the health care law. in so doing, however, perform stupak really alienated the prolife community. he had been negotiating with the catholic bishops and national right to life committee and others and they -- they thought he was doing so in good faith and when he came up with an agreement not to their liking they thelt betrayed. he says he's not being chased out by the tea party movement, he feels he's done a service to his country, he's proud of the work he did on health care reform and getting it passed and now he's ready to step aside and have new democrats step up in michigan. this is a very, very big

move and republicans will call it the first sign of real fallout from those democrats who flipped their opposition and supported health care reform. bart stupak can deny it, but he wasn't planning on not running before the health care reform bill became law. jane: carl cameron in new orleans, thanks. jon: we're learning the president has only known for about exactly one hour that justice john paul stevens would retire. the letter from stevens to the white house hit the white house steps at about 10:30 eastern time this morning, about an hour and 15 minutes ago. a member of the white house staff, the legal staff, picked up the phone and dialed air force one, president obama, of course, on his way back from prague, and got that phone call, announcing the retirement. we are told that the president will address the stevens retirement about 1:30 this afternoon eastern time, a little less than two hours from now when he speaks at the rose garden

ceremony. so who will replace this long serving justice? we'll get into that ahead.

jon: a fox news alert, the scene of the rose garden ceremony, in less than two hours, president obama expects to speak about the tragedy of the winers in west virginia, but we also understand that he will address something that just arrived on the white house doorstep a little more than an hour ago, that being the retirement of justice john paul stevens, a man who has served on the u.s. supreme court for 34 years. find ago replacement for him, that is going to be the biggest parlor game in washington coming up. our brian wilson is here to talk about the process. it is the white house's job, obviously, to nominate a successor, but there are going to be 50,000 interest groups weighing in, won't there, brian? >> reporter: you could almost hear it in washington, as soon as that

announcement was relayed, you could hear the words "game on" being uttered in washington because it is game on now, a supreme court nomination is one of the most important things that happens, the senate has to give its advice and consent, and the game is on in washington and it happens at a time when the environment is about as toxic as i've ever seen it. so a couple of things to consider here. number one, i don't think much else is going to happen in the united states senate for the remainder of the year. it's hard to lift heavy legislation and consider a supreme court nomination at the same time. so there's only so much that the senate can handle at one time, no matter what they tell you, this will eat up a lot of oxygen in this town and that's something to consider. the other thing is what kind of a person will the president nominate. well, the president will not change the balance of the court. he's going to replace a liberal, one would believe, with a liberal, but the thing that's important here is finding the right person who can find confirmation. and in this environment, they've got to find someone who's probably young,

someone who's going to be on the court for many year and the second factor is the record has to be sort of deep but not too deep. there can't be a lot this person has written, because when there's written material in the record, it gives the opthinks something to seize upon and in this environment, they will certainly take that opportunity. jon: clearly the president will as you say replace a liberal with a liberal, but what some are suggesting is that he may have a problem finding a liberal who can pull in the moderates as justice stevens was often able to do. >> yeah, you know, on the high court, this is something that is often missed in washington, as it is on capitol hill often. the power in the political process and in the legislative process and in the judicial process is often in the middle. those are the people who make the big decisions, who go one way sometimes and go the other way the other times, they're the people that make legislation possible and on the supreme court, they're the ones who make it a 5-4 decision. now, so it's going to be

very hard to find somebody. stevens had that ability to persuade the middle to come his way on occasion, and it was very effective as a supreme court justice. jon: i'm sure your phones are already ringing with some of those interest groups trying to put forward their nominees, brian wilson -- >> >> reporter: getting ready, the game is on! jon: we'll let you clear off your desktop. jane: we're going to take to you afghanistan where the taliban is saying it shot down a u.s. aircraft, the osprey, which has a controversial task. three u.s. service members have been killed. we're waiting for word from the military on exactly what happened here. oliver north is embedded with our troops there, we'll get to him in moments. 

jon: the taliban is claiming responsibility for an ops --

osprey crash, that aircraft went down last night. officials will only say the crash is under investigation the cb-22osprey takes off like a helicopter but rotates the engines so it can fly like an airplane, the osprey, the intended uses include assault, transport, special operations missions, technical problems caused several fatal v-22 crashes in the past. early in its development. it can carry up to 24 fully armed troops. joining us now, lieutenant colonel oliver north, the host of "war stories", he is streaming live from the province where he's embedded with u.s. dea and special operations forces. tell us, ollie, what you know about this crash.

>> jon, it went down, leaving this base, it's a u.s. air force cv-22 tilt rotor, as you said, it crashed 7 miles from this base, killing four, injuring 16. within minutes of the crash, u.s. air force rescue birds from the 41st expeditionary rescue squad and pedros were on scene to evacuate the the wounded, 11 of those serious ly injured were treated by the army surgical deals and despite that taliban claim, there is no evidence whatsoever that that aircraft was hit by enemy fire. bottom line, it's a very dangerous business, the american people need to know it. these troops sure do. jon: they are doing a great job, that's for sure. i know you have brand new "war stories" that heads up this weekend. let's take a look at the clip, then your comment. >> the hind did you range stretches 600 miles across southeast afghanistan with peaks reaches 19,000 feet,

its valleys hide the nation's enemy, the unmanned vehicle covers caves, going into places soldiers can't. >> there are thousands of caves in afghanistan, it could be treacherous or nasty places and the ability to put a robot in first is a huge benefit to the soldiers. jon: some high-tech stuff on this week's show, huh? >> there is indeed, jonings and of course, that's a lot of the stuff that these guys are using out here. don't miss it, 9:00 p.m. eastern, sunday night. jon: lieutenant colonel oliver north, live from afghanistan. be sure to catch "war stories", coal noloo colonel north this weekend, 9:00 this weekend. jane: breaking news out of washington this hour, we're waiting to hear from two men, the first, congressman bart stupak, one of the key democrats who helped health care reform get passed, he has been hammered for that vote. we're told he's been announcing at a news conference he's not running

for reelection. shortly after that, we expect to see president obama at the white house. he now will be getting his second chance to fill a supreme court opening, the court's oldest member leader of its liberal block, justice stevens, has just announced he's retiring. a lot of news, coming your way.

jane: top of the hours, hi everybody, i'm jane skinner. jon: and i'm jon scott, big

stories breaking today in washington, supreme court justice john paul stevens, announces he will step down when the court finishes its work this summer. he's the oldest member of the high court. also, one of the most liberal justices. he announces his retirement in a letter sent to president obama today, the president now gets a chance to make his second appointment to the supreme court, an appointment that will sit for life. mr. obama will address justice stevens' retirement in remarks from the rose garden to be made about an hour and a half from now. james rosen is live for us at the white house in anticipation of that event. james? >> reporter: jon, good after that. we don't expect to hear the name of the next nominee to the supreme court today. the focus, of course, will be on justice stevens, although the justice will be sharing -- i should say be one of a pair of subjects the president will address. he was already set, president obama, upon his arrival to the white house, to make remarks about the

west virginia coal mining strategy -- tragedy, we understand that will take place and he will address the new subject of justice stevens' retirement. white house sources tell major garrett a representative from the supreme court delivered justice stevens' formal retirement letter to the white house at 10:30 this morning, that triggered a phone call, within 15 minutes, from the white house counsel, bob bauer, to air force one, which the president is traveling on from prague. it is bauer who notified mr. obama of this development. that letter was short and to the point. it stated, and i quote, my dear mr. president, having concluded that it would be in the best interest of the court to have my successor appointed and confirmed well in advance of the commencement of the court's next term, i shall retire from regular active service as an associate justice effective the next day after the court rises for the summer recess this year, most respectfully yours, john paul stevens. so once again, we expect an on camera statement from the president about an hour from now. of course, we will be covering it live. jon. jon: so his retirement, how does it stand to impact the

direction of the highest court? >> well, it certainly will have an impact, but not as much as one would imagine and certainly not as much as the departure of some other more conservative justices from the court would have. justice stevens was nominated back in 1975 by a republican president, gerald ford, he was confirmed in a far left polarized era by a vote of 98-nothing and after a senate confirmation hearing in which justice stevens not once was asked about the subject of abortion. at first, stevens joined in a majority to reestablish the death penalty, a ruling he said he later regretted, and he moved by most accounts steadily offer the years to a liberal block of the supreme court, although in a recent interview, justice stevens himself quarreled with that characterization, saying he was a conservative jurist, because he saw it as his job only to, and i quote, decide cases and resolve controversies, not to write broad rules that may answer society's questions at large. in a statement released this morning, chief justice john

robertsade and i quote, associate justice john paul steve's has earned the gratitude of the -- gratitude and admiration of the american people for ins nearly 40 years of distinguished service to the ju dish -- undir -- judiciary, he has enriched the lives everyone at the court through his intellect, independence and warm grace. as to the subject of his age, he is soon to turn 90 years old, he witnessed personally, in person, babe ruth calling his home run shot in 1932. jon: that is a bit of tiffa and very interesting at that. james rosen in washington, thank you. jane: want to get to another major political news, just a few minutes from now michigan congressman bart stu pan under fire hins his vote for health care reform, is at the time to -- set to announce he will not run for reelection. he will hold a news conference set to begin at

the bottom of the hour. president obama called congressman stupak this week urging him not to retire. you may know this, congressman stupak is the prolife democrat who switched his vote at the 11th hour after getting abortion agreement from president obama. he brought along a whole block of votes and it pushed health care reform over the finish line. steve, when did stupak make this decision? >> we don't know everything about the tile line on this. we do know there's a regular deliberation process, we spoke yesterday with his wife, laurie stupak who said bi-annually they take a look at whether or not this is something they wish to do, to go through the rigors of a exaib in the house and the answers have been yes and yes and he's won handily here. we do know yesterday the folks at northern michigan university where the news conference will take place in 30 minutes were informed that there may be need for a pod ul and a microphone and a possible news conference, so it could be as early as

yesterday or possibly even this morning. we'll have to learn more about when the final decision was made today at this news conference. jane there's been a lot of mention this morning of those harassing, threatening phone calls to his offices and to his home. do you know from him or his family, was that a factor in this decision? >> it does appear that it was. it has been something of a wearing issue both on the congressman's staff and on his family. as a matter of fact, yerksd laurie stupak told us on camera these phone calls were even coming in at home. this is a portion of what it is that she said. >> we have gotten a number of very ugly phone calls, and faxes into the congressional offices, into the campaign office, to our home. i actually had two -- had to disconnect our home at -- our telephone at hole and our answering machine. >> reporter: in the congressional offices, to

the stupak congressional offices, and the home, they haven't let up well after the health care vote. congressional offices tell us 95 percent of the votes came from -- calls came from scout side of the district and of the five that came in the district, they're 50-50 for and against health care. it's a passionate issue and the phone calls were over the line. jane: the tea party express, they've obviously targeted congressman stupak since his vote, they said they wanted to defeat him this time around, they started airing ads this week. what's the reaction there to that? >> they have already begun to take credit for the decision that the congressman made. as a matter of fact, as we speak, they are kicking off another of a series of events held in stupak's district this, one an hour south of where we're standing right now, and they areeld -- are told they are taking credit for helping stupak make the decision to not seek another term. it's hard to argue with the timing of it, simply because

they're in the middle of a 5-stop tour of this district, they have targeted him like no other candidate, and in the middle of this particular tour, the break happensta that it actually happens that stupak has decided not to run, so they'll make the most of it through the remaining portions of the tour, pointing out what are the successes here. jane: steve, we'll get back to you as the news conference gets underway, set to begin 20 minutes from now. jon: clearly, time is running out but friends and family are holding out hope that four men will be found alive in a west virginia mine, where that terrible explosion took place, killing 25 others. a window of survival is fast closing. for the third time this week, rescue teams had to pull out of the mine, this time because of heavy smoke. we're awaiting another news conference that's set to win. molly henneberg is in west virginia. what's the latest, molly? >> reporter: hi jon.

the reason the third attempt had to be halted is because they saw smoke and there was the risk that there could be a fire and maybe even another explosion in the mine so the rescue teams are frustrated but they had to come back out. they're so anxious to get to that final reef owj chamber and see if the missing miners could possibly northbound there. here's what's happening this morning. they are in the process that may be wrapping up about now of drilling a second bore hole into the mine, drilling down into the mine, then it will take an hour and a half about to try to drop a camera into the mine where they think the miners may be in that last refuge chamber. so the camera goes down, they'll take a look, they'll look to see if this chamber has been, as they call t. deployed 67 it's a big yellowo call it deployed, it's a big, yellow tent. they'll be able to tell if there's not too much smoke if it's deployed. if it has deployed, it means the miners, all four of them or some of them, could be inside, could have survived. if it's not deployed, it means it did -- this did not survive. jon: i know this is

considered a very significant day when it comes to any rescue efforts. can you explain why? >> absolutely. ninety-six hours has been a significant marker since monday when the explosion happened about 3:00 on monday, and 96 hours would be about 3:00 this afternoon, that's because in the refuge chambers, there is 96 hours worth of food, water and oxygen, according to mine experts, so they have been really pushing to hit that marker and get to that refuge chamber within 96 hours. now, we're told by mine experts that the refuge chamber has stocked to help 15 people survive so with only four in there, it could last long every. jon: molly henneberg from west virginia, and the president will make a comment about that mine disaster, about 90 minutes from now. jane: when he speaks about what's happening in west virginia, he'll speak about what's happening in washington, because we're learning that john paul stevens has announced he will be retiring, confirming

his replacement could, of course, trigger a pretty hot nomination battle. a fair and balanced debate is coming up on that. jon: also embattled republican committee chairman michael steele, a new call for his resignation. a high ranking republican will tell us why he thinks the chairman should step down. jane: thousands of mourners are in the streets of the capitol of kyrzygstan to honor victims shot dead at an opposition rally. there's been so much violence on the streets there, rocking that nation. it is important to us, because we have a base there, and it's important to our troops in afghanistan. we'll update you, next.

jane: supreme court justice john paul stevens says he wants his successor confirmed before the start of the high court's next session, he just announced this morning he will be retiring, it's a move he hinted at pretty strongly just last week. he's one of the supreme court's most liberal members, he is the oldest. what can we expect as the president and the white house, they're working hard you can bet at this moment

to figure out who to nominate. let's get to megyn kel yes, the anchor of the show "america live" and form supreme court correspondent. megyn, good to see you early today. what are your thoughts as we move forward on what type of person the president will be nominating? >> you know, i have to say the stevens retirement isn't that big of a surprise and i don't think that the nomination will be that big of a surprise, either. the white house had said prior to this that they expected to be able to make a decision pretty quickly because this was anticipated, stevens turns 90 later this month, he had suggested he is going to retire within the next month or so or at least within obama's term, so i think they have the same short list that they had right after sotomayor when they came up with her nomination and you heard some of the names even in the past hour that you guys have been covering this. elena kagan is one i hear repeat -- repeat led, the solicitor general, that basically means the top appeals advocate for the country, she's the one who goes into the supreme court on behalf of the united states government and argue when people challenge a u.s.

law, she's got to defend the laws so she'll argue on behalf of the u.s. bottom, she's a frontrunner considered by many not only because she's not been labeled as that objectionable but the right but because she's only 49 years old. that's pretty young to ascend to the nation's highest court, jane, and presidents from george bush to barack obama want their legacy to secure when they leave office. many are saying that's george bush's greatest legacy is the justices he placed not only on the high court, the supreme court, but on the next layer down, the court of appeals throughout this country. so i think watch for elena kagan, 49 years old, former dean of harvard law school and there's talk about diane wood, who's a judge on the #th circuit court of appeals, which is a very well respected court of appeals, that's the layer down below the supreme court, she's 59, however, so she's got ten years on elena kagan, but the thing is, she's known as sort of an speak electionual -- intellectual blockbuster when it comes to the liberal

credentials, they're solid but she stood up to the justices on the seventh circuit. the thing about diane woods, though, she's got a paper trail, she's been on the seventh circuit for a while and issued controversial rulings, including against partial birth abortion -- upholding prch at birth abortion which is very controversial and other sort of proabortion rulings if you will that will come back to haunt her. elena kagan, however, has almost no paper trail in terms of judicial opinions because she hasn't been a judge. that could be a very good thing for her isn't she doesn't have a lot of opinions for people to pick apart, on the other hand, detractors are saying -- will i say what are we doing sending her to the high court but it happened in the pass, with former chief justice william rehnquist. those are the two that come to mind on the short list but the list is long and the white house is ready to pore over it at this moment. jane: interesting the two

that rise to the top happen to be two women. we'll watch and see, this may come fast and pretty furious. megyn, we'll see you in 44 minutes. >> i got to get to work! jane: see you. jon: let's talk about this nominating process with byron york with the washington examiner, susan estrich, also a fox news contributor is with us and susan brings an interesting opinion because she clerked for justice stevens. first of all, what would you suppose, susan, that the president is looking for as he considers replacing this long serving justice? >> well, i think he's looking for somebody who has strong opinions and is very smart and is confirmable. he no longer has the 60 votes supermajority, so i think to echo what megyn said, elena kagan, who happens to be an old friend of mine and someone i --

>> senate and a filibuster

which republicans technically could do will be an enormous step. it's not been done in the case of the supreme court justice. there's kind of a tacit agreement not to do it and you have to remember, democrats have 59 votes, there are senators like snowe, collins, voinovich, graham, on the republican side that gives the president a lot of deference. this is a confirmation that is almost guaranteed if the president picks anybody who qualifies. jon: would you agree, susan? in terms of brian's statement that the president could choose who he wants to, would the president do that? >> i'm not sure, i think

he's going to look for somebody highly qualified and confirmable. i have to go back, i remember justice stevens when he was originally nominated, he had i think a one-day confirmation hearing, the national organization for women opposed him because as a seventh circuit judge, he had issued a ruling on a case involving flight attendants and discrimination with which they disagreed, and of course, justice stevens went on to become, at least in my book, one of the fouror foremost advocates and supporters of women's rights to serve on the court. so i would hope that they would not -- you know, in the years since wee taken this confirmation, and i think both sides have been guilty of totally politicizing it to the point that sonya sotomayor had to sit there and basically say all i do is call balls and strikes, which no one on the legal side believes that, and i hope we can get back to a more civilized tone in

all this. jon: the computer is about to cut us all off, thank you very much, susan estrich, also, byron yory. 

jane: for the first time since revelations that the republican national committee funds were used in a riske hollywood nightclub a state party chairman is publicly calling for the recent -- resignation of michael steele, the head of the north carolina republican party sent the rnc chairman a 2-page letter saying the best service he could render would be to, quote, graciously step aside and allow the party to move on from this quagmire. we're going to get reaction from the rnc in a moment. tom, pretty strong words there, and you are one of just a handful of people making these types of

requests. why are you doing it? >> reporter: -- >> well, jane, let me begin by saying that michael steele is a friend of mine and i have been an avid supporter of his during my tenure as chairman of the north carolina republican party but as republicans we're the opposition party, we're out of power in washington and in north carolina and in order to replace the other folks in power we have to demonstrate we can do a better job and recent events at the rnc have justififiably called into question whether republicans are up to the task. if we're good be to party for reform and ethics in government we're obliged to reflect those values in our internal business affairs and i just think that the confidence in the republican base is shaken and the only way to restore that confidence is for a change in leadership at the rnc. >> this certainly would be in people' minds a dangerous time to have a leadership conference as we look to the mid-term elections and you are adding to the infighting in the party. >> well, i don't consider standing up for what is

right as infighting. my state, my volunteers, our grass root activists, and our donors are very upset about what's going on with the rnc recently and they don't see a demonstrated understanding of the magnitude of the problems it's creating, nor an understanding that dramatic change needs to occur. and i think it's a better move for the party to change now than to try and drift through an election cycle with these continued diversions and distractions. this is shaping up to be a very strong potential election year for the republican party and we need the full faith and confidence in the rnc on the part of our grassroots volunteers and doors and acti vies. jane: at the end of the day, obviously you want to win. you're looking at victories in unlikely places, virginia, new jersey, massachusetts. doesn't that give you confidence? it would be hard i think to argue with those results. >> well, i think that certainly the rnc had a role to play in those elections. and as i said, i have been a supporter of mr. steele's,

michael's, throughout my entire tenure. but these recent events i think and their inability to reasonably deal with the events and to restore the confidence in the republican party's activist and donor base and volunteers have a -- is a real problem going forward. we need to put our best foot forward in this election and the fact that rnc is going to great lengths to defend the chairman and instead of folk -- focusing its efforts is a sign that the change of leadership would benefit the party and part of leadership is realizing when the better part of your leadership is to step aside and sacrifice your own ambitions and agenda for the party we serve and i think that moment has arrived for michael steele. jane: tom fetsar is the gop chair from south carolina. want to get reaction from

doug hye, communications director from new orleans, from the southern republican leadership conference. a lot of talk, you know what -- i'll just getting in my ear, doug, you can understand this, bart stupak is about to step to the mics in marquette, michigan. do we have that live picture of congressman stupak? jon: there he is, bart stupak, congressman, about to announce as we are led to believe that he will not be running for a tenth term. he was, of course, a very controversial figure during the health care debate. congressman who said he would not vote for health care as long as it contained the possibility of federal funding of abortion. he believes that he received the necessary promises from president obama, the necessary legislation, that would not allow federal funding of abortion. a lot of people disagreed with his take on that. jane: you see him standing there with his wife, we heard from our correspondent

steve brown earlier today on site there that said he had talked to mrs. stupak earlier who talked a bit about all the stress the family has been under in the wake of this health care vote, including some of those death threats that they had gotten, not just at the congressman's office but also at their home as well. you can imagine that has put some stress on a family that is used to politics, after being in office for close to two decades. but certainly it can take a toll. this is a district that stupak has carried pretty handily in the past, though president obama received about 50 percent of the vote there, and some have suggested that when congressman stupak sat down with his advisers to look at the polls that there was no guarantee, particularly in the environment that we're in now. jon: that was district one in michigan, bart stupak, the up, right? the upper peninsula? jan jane interesting, politico.com was reporting earlier today, a lot of questions about when he had actually made this decision, because we're told president

obama himself had picked up the phone and called him and tried to talk him out of it on wednesday. plitco is reporting that -- politico is reporting the congressman and his family talked about and made this decision while he was watch ing michigan state in the final four earlier in the week and that's when the decision came. jon: this is a vote, a district that went about, what, 50 percent before john mccain as i understand it in the last election, so the feeling among democrats is if you've got a guy in there who is prove he can hold the seat obviously as bart stu hack has -- stupak has done for the # terms in congress, you want to keep him there and that's perhaps why the president decided to weigh in and tried to convince him to stay. jane: this is what stupak told the detroit free press, he said are voters mad at me about a vote, yeah, he said, but he also says he has plenty of support in his district, he said even his

priest defended him in a palm sunday note to parishioners and stupak said he considers the health care reform health care reform bill, quote, his greatest legislative accomplishment. he had come under fire not only by one of his challengers, by some on the left that had seen him as a holdout, as a betrayal but some on the right as well. he's a prolife democrat that switched his vote after the agreement on the abortion language with the president. the tea party express had been holding rallies to try to get him out of office. jon: that is sheriff mike lovelace speaking, he is talking about the history of law enforcement support from the congress. as we go through some of these preliminary speakers in advance of this big announcement, let's go to juan williams in washington.

juan, if there had been no health care vote, if there had not been this huge controversy in the first term, would bart stupak be resigning? >> i don't think so, jon. what you're going to hear from bart stupak in a few minutes is he just felt beat up and tired. i think he's going to make it very clear that he's got a large district, that first district is huge, and that he wasn't getting very much time at home and eeg been there nine terms, and. he's been there nine terms, a lot of the area, even city where he's in, marquette, they have got 20,000 people. that is the biggest city in the whole district. jon: yeah. >> very small. he has been just tireless. he is one of these "mr. smith goes to washington" type of guys. he is sincere and genuine and he will take a call work late at night. he is tireless in that regard. but in this last fight over health care reform, i think he felt that he got beat up

pretty badly. i think it turned him off to being in congress and being a part of the democratic majority. jon: you can fly from washington marquette faster than you can drive from one end of his district to another. from our chicago, telling me it was taking eight hours to cross his district by car. so you can see, just the prospect of campaigning again in a district that size couldly leave a guy exhausted. >> yeah. i think that's part of it. but let's not ignore political realities here which is that the tea party folks got $250,000 together, john and have been running those ads that martha is talking about. imagine that. that's a serious challenge. they had targeted him second only to harry reid, the democrat senate majority leader for targets for the tea party to out of in the upcoming election. so stupak was clearly

someone they had focused on and he was getting a lot of the rhetoric, a lot of anger. i got to imagine that is part of this equation. he says tea party is not forcing him out. that may be pride speaking. i think there are lots of elements here but i can't ignore the tea party as a force. jon: juan williams in washington. thanks. >> you're welcome. jane: we'll keep watching that shot we're told a few more speakers before the congressman actually steps to the microphone. so when he does we'll take you back there. time we can't to get back to doug hyde, communications director for the republican national commit. give you a chance to respond what you heard from the north carolina party chair, tom fetzer, michael steele and his future. i know a lot of talk about at the conference in new orleans. what is reaction about this call for him to step down? >> well i can tell you having talked to the chairman about it, got to tell you, jane, i'm from north carolina. i have known tom since 1992.

a great mayor for the city of raleigh. chairman steele agrees on one thing in his letter. this it larger than about one person. look at event behind me you've been televising for the past day. republicans are enthusiastic. they know these issues are important. it is important that we fight health care. bart stupak himself made himself accountable today by announcing his retirement. important that we have republicans fighting to make sure that president obama and senate democrats don't push through another liberal judge. because we just can't afford that. that is a fight we'll make at the republican national committee. that is a fight chairman steele will make. we have state party chairs and national committee men who are supportive and putting it together for us. at end of the day we can talk amongst ourselves or beat democrats. that is our priority. doug, hotline is reporting there is letter going around to be signed by state party chairs in support of chairman steele and that as of late last night,ly 14 of the 50 chairs had signed it.

is that true? do an update to that number? >> i think that was true at the time. but, the reality more than 30 state party chairs have stood behind chairman steele. i know more are reaching out to him. they know at the end the day the real priority for the republican max committee, chairman steele has done a great job on this. raise money to invest it in victory programs throughout the state. i'll give you one example we need to put money in the north carolina 8 congressional race to beat larry kissel in november. that is top priority. jane: jon kyl told chris wall on sunday, this kind of thing, quote, has got to stop or they won't get any contributions. timing of all this, infighting if you want to call it that is not good when we're looking at midterms coming up. >> well, absolutely. not only these things need to stop they have stopped. chairman has put in better practices and replaced personnel to insure that

stops because the buck stops with him. so we can again really focus on november, which everybody at this convention is doing. and we put, raised $11.4 million in the month of march. we'll keep raising money in april. all that money foes to one beating democrats in november. jane: doug heye communications director for the rnc thank you for your time. jon: we have an eye on monitor where congressman stupak is still awaiting his time at the podium to speak. when he makes his announcement we'll take you back there live. meantime the financial crisis injury commission is investigating the role that fan my may and freddie mac made in the housing collapse. many blame trading in subprime mortgages for inflating a housing bubble in this country. they were around for years before it burst including times when home prices steadily rose. "fox business network"'s rich edson live with a closer look. so are these executives accepting responsibility, here, rich? >> reporter: they're blaming the downfall of fannie mae

on fannie mae not their leadership. fannie mae was somewhat private company. it has investors but also existed to help americans buy homes. it would purchases made by private lenders to grease the gears of the housing market. the former executives say unlike banks, fannie also had a federal mission to increase homeownership. so some of the commissioners say decisions made at the top help sink fannie, not just its charter, jon. jon: what is this commission going to do? is there going to be real result coming out of this? >> reporter: there are some doubts these hearings and this commission will affect much. congress is already writing new rules for wall street to follow. but if there is one area this panel's findings can effect that is fannie mae and government sponsored counterpart, freddie mac. no one knows what will happen to them. congress is so busy it won't get to figuring out fannie and freddie until next year, jon. jon: this is day three of the hearings, right? >> reporter: right. jon: how have they gone so

far? >> reporter: commissioners have questioned former fed chair alan greenspan and top two executives at citigroup. they have gotten some apologies but looking for someone to take responseability. so far, that has not happened. jon: rich edson, from the "fox business network." rich, thanks very much. we are also continuing to follow the big breaking news today, the long-serving justice of the supreme court, john paul vens, announcing he will retire at the end of this term. the president is scheduled to make some remarks on that less than an hour from now. elbe in the rose garden. that event, we will bring it to you live when it begins plus much more on the president's short list to replace this long-serving justice. also, live in marquette, michigan where bart stupak the long-serving member ofe congress there who became such a lightning rod forre controversy touring theto health care vote, bart stupak is about to make a

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jon: all kinds of news breaking on this friday. a live look there at the white house where president obama is set to make remarks a little over 45 minutes from now. the president has been winging his way back from prague. it was while he was on board air force one, that he received word from his white house counsel that one of the longest serving justices in u.s. supreme court history, john paul stevens, is announcing his retirement from the court. that gives president obama his second opportunity to replace at supreme court justice. justice sotomayor being the first. the president will make some remarks on that to be followed by remarks about the west virginia mining tragedy, from the rose garden about 45 minutes from now. this "fox news alert". you're looking at laurie

stupak, the wife of 18-year congressman, bart stupak, a man who endured some rather stinging criticism during the health care debate. it was block of votes that helped assure president obama of the votes he needed, the president needed to get health care passed in this country. congressman stupak had said he would not vote forfeit it contained federal funding for abortion. it became a very contentious issue. now he is saying he will step aside although he it has nothing to do with the health care controversy. he says he could get reelected if he wanted to. apparently he just doesn't want to. let's listen into laurie stupak now as she introduces her husband. >> we thank them for their friendship and support. we're truly honored to have been given the opportunity to serve. now please let me introduce husband, my congressman, your congressman, of whom i

am very proud, bart stupak. [applause] >> told baldini not to let laurie go last. she does a great job. it is hard to follow her. thanks to dr. wng, lovelace. and to all my friends and supporters who are here today and especially my good friend tom baldini and my life laurie. the people of northern michigan have provided with the honor of representing them in congress for the past 18 years. i'm truly grateful for their support. i have the distinct honor of serving as your congressman longer than any other member in modern times. longer than bob davis, bill rumpe or john bennett. when i first ran for congress in 1992, i campaigned

on a pledge to make affordable quality health care a right, not a privilege, for all americans. i promised the people of the first congressional district that i would not accept the insurance that members of congress received, the federal employees health benefit package until all americans could have access to the same quality of care. for the last 18 years i have kept that promise. since the day i took office, i have fought to improve the quality and accessability of health care where people throughout northern michigan and our great nation. despite many set back, due to partisan divides in washington gridlock, i never gave up hope and i never gave in. as a result, we've made significant progress. here in northern michigan today veterans, we have 11 community-based outpatient clinics to provide veterans with the care they need and

deserve. broadband access for northern michigan hospitals serves as a model for a country of how to improve quality and efficiency in health care while lowering the costs in rural areas. we've improved emergency rooms here in the district and provided updated diagnostic technology, leading to improved medical treatment, and critical prevention services. and last month, we finally accomplished what i set out to do 18 years ago. we passed comprehensive, national, health care reform. throughout the past year, i worked alongside my colleagues to achieve health care reform and i'm proud to have helped bring it across the finish line. as a result of that work, today we're on the path to provide health insurance for 32 million more americans including 38,000 people living here in morn michigan.

today, because of these reforms, all american families, including 197 families here in northern michigan will see their costs lowered and receive important consumer protections so they no longer have to live in fear of being one illness or one injury away from bankruptcy. today, children can no longer be denied care because of a preexisting condition. and insurance company can drop you or your family from care or cap your insurance coverage due to a serious injury or chronic illness. today, because of reforms, seniors will be able to afford their prescription drugs and americans will receive preventive care that they need. and today, small businesses can receive tax credits to make employee insurance coverage more affordable. after 18 years together we've accomplished what you sent me to washington to do, health care for all

americans. my friends and family know that during the last several election cycles when it seemed like health care reform wasn't possible in washington i considered retiring from congress. i wish to spend more time with my family and begin a new chapter in my career. but in each of the past several election cycles i chose to continue to serve the people of the first district because i felt we still had work to do. in 2004, after i voted against the war in iraq i worked to elect john kerry so we could bring illegal, immoral war to an end. in 2006, when it seemed possible for democrats to regain the majority, and put this country back on the right track, i worked hard to make that happen and we did it. i became chairman of the oversight and investigations committee. the most fasting subcommittee in all of congress.

over the past four years on our committee we launched investigations into high file issues such as border security, nursing home safety, security breaches at our nuclear labs, food and drug safety investigations, excessive energy speculation, discriminatory practices in the health insurance industry and the recent toyota sudden, unintended acceleration problems. but two years ago, i saw an opportunity to finally enact health care with the election of a new president. i thank president obama and speaker pelosi for their leadership, to pull us across the line as we finally health care a reality in this country. while legislative accomplishments have been a significant part of my career, perhaps the thing i'm most proud of over 18 years is helping you, my friends, my nabe fwors and my -- neighbors and my constituents. we have helped tens of

thousands of constituents resolve problems and cut through the tape. problems such as helping secure benefits through the veterans or social administration. or helping with a national problem at the irs or securing the medals of a service member who valiantly served our country. we helped people obtain passports, secure local mail delivery service and obtained funding to weatherize our homes to money. these may seem like little things but to me and my staff they're some of the most important things we do. i want to thank the members of my staff, past and present both here in northern michigan and washington, d.c. especially those individuals who have been with me from the beginning of congressional career. my chief of staff, scott shlagel. district director, tom baldini. amy widy. and sue. i thank them for their

dedication, loyalty and hard work. i've spent more than 30 years in public service. as a police officer, a michigan state police trooper, a state representative, and now a u.s. congressman. my service to the people of michigan have been one of the greatest honors of my life. but it's time to begin a new and exciting chapter. last night, and early this morning i informed democratic leaders in and key supporters i would not not seek reelection to congress. i will always serve the people of the first district but i have chosen not to continue to serve as their congressman. i'm committed to helping the democrats retain this seat as i believe we must continue to fight for our working families and small businesses. for our economic and national security, for our great lakes and for our quality of life. by announcing my intentions here today, potential candidates will have ample opportunity to organize campaigns and collect the

necessary signatures before the may 11th filing deadline. i want to thank the people of northern michigan for putting their faith in me. for 18 years i've traveled this district from the bay, to grand travers bay to grand saginau bay to all points in between, to hear your concerns and share in your joys and disappointments. i've enjoyed almost every minute. i and i fought for you and your families eve and every day but now it's time to spend a little more time with my wife laurie, who we have been married for 36 years and whose love and commitment sustained me through the years with our son ken and his family my extended family and friends. thank you, thank you for all being here today. thank you very much. [applause] jon: bart stupak calls it an end to 18-year career in congress. he says he thinks he could

have a reelected to a 10th term in the u.s. congress despite the controversy erupted over his vote that helped push through the health care reform plan that was so controversial. bart stupak, wrapping it up after teen years in congress. let's get a little more reaction now. go back to juan williams. he is npr analyst, news analyst and a "fox news" contributor. juan, surprising he talked more about his support of health care reform in that news conference than he did about, you know the controversy that erupted he especially over his, well the opposition to abortion that became, made him such a lightning rod during the whole controversy. >> exactly right, jon. he didn't mention it at all. kind of like the dog that didn't bark to my mind. you've got to understand that he was called, baby killer from the floor. and he is, by all accounts, was deeply offended and is

hurting as one who is strongly pro-life. this is guy who has many liberal critics. he opposed north american free trade agreement. he opposed the weapons ban, assault weapons ban under president clinton. he has been a real moderate voice for a rat district as we were discussing earlier. takes up half of the state of michigan. so he has won his, last time he ran he won with 65% of the vote. but this time, being targeted by the tea party folks, having $250,000 put into advertising against him. already beginning to run in the district. and his controversial stand, that some people viewed as the difference, the votes that made the difference that put president obama and health care bull over the top, i think he was in for a real fight. i think bart stupak simply had lost the appetite for that kind of real knife fight that was coming this fall.

jon: we will certainly see what happens in that district. it is one that the tea party, as you point out, has targeted as well as republicans. >> jon let me before i go, he is the 16th democrat now is retiring. you've got 18 or so republicans retiring. what you've seen over the last several months as momentum for more democrats pulling out. that's a bad sign for democrats who already are looking at tough fall election season. jon: juan williams in washington. thanks. >> you're welcome. jane: want to show you some pictures we're seeing, the president's plane air force one on the tarmac as he returns from his trip to prague. we expect to see him very shortly in about, 20, 25 minutes or so at the white house making remarks not only on the search for those four missing miners in west virginia i can't but on this breaking news out of washington today, the big story, that justice john paul stevens, the oldest member of the u.s. supreme court is retiring. that means the president will soon be proposing a

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jane: this is one busy friday. jon: it sure is. have yourself a great week end. jane "america live" is up next. megyn: fox news alert on three breaking stories we're tracking for you now, first, live pictures from new orleans, where sarah palin is about to give a key speech and a huge political event. we will listen in to see -- to see if she responds to the shot she took from president obama last night, it is palin versus the', this hour